Saturday, June 7, 2014

Puerto Rico: Governor García Padilla Names "Adviser" to Reform PRPD

According to The Latin American Tribune, Governor Alejandro García Padilla on Thursday (June 5) announced the
appointment of retired US Army Col. Arnaldo Claudio as the new adviser
to undertake a reform of the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD).The
governor said that the naming of Claudio, confirmed by federal Judge
Gustavo Gelpi, was agreed to with Puerto Rican authorities and the US
Department of Justice.Claudio replaces Juan Mattos, who in February 2014 resigned after less than four months in the post.

COMMENT: It is interesting to point out that Colonel Claudio was not appointed as Superintendent of the PRPD, but rather as an "adviser," in the hope that Colonel Claudio will eventually become superintendent.

Sadly, the Commonwealth has had a serious problem in retaining superintendents of Police for the PRPD.

Since July 2011, Puerto Rico has had seven superintendents come and go with very short periods of tenure:

The US Department of Justice sued the PRPD in 2012, citing a
continuous pattern of civil rights violations, a high level of
corruption and deficient training.

The suit was dropped last year after the Department and the PRPD came to agreement on a pact to reform the troubled force.

“Col.
Claudio has a distinguished service for which we can be very proud. He’s a Puerto Rican who in 33 years went from graduating from the
Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) to coordinating security at the
inauguration of the President Barack Obama in his second term,” García
Padilla said.

Colonel Claudio has also advised the governments of Colombia, Perú and Bolivia in combating drug trafficking and terrorism.

About Me

I retired from the US State Department in April 2006, after a career as a special agent, Senior Regional Security Officer (SRSO), director of training, chief investigator of the Cyprus Missing Persons Program, director of security of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and as a senior adviser in the Office of Anti-Terrorism Assistance.
My book, STAYING SAFE ABROAD: TRAVELING, WORKING AND LIVING IN A POST-9/11 WORLD was published in May 2008.
A complete update of STAYING SAFE ABROAD 2015, will be release during early 2015 for the iPad, Kindle and Nook and other e-readers.
I am a former Federal Firearms Dealer (US), a certified NRA pistol instructor and a certified NRA Range Safety Officer.
My career has also included 15 years as an international security consultant; for ten years I served as the security adviser to the Inter-American Development Bank.
I additionally, served six years in the Marines, which included combat service in Vietnam.
I am available for operational assignments, lecturing opportunities and in providing security solutions anywhere in the world.